As you probably know, I have spent most of my adult life in retail. I have made many friends along the way. After Belk closed officially in 1996 in Columbia, almost everyone went to other places. Some stayed with the Belk organization in other towns and cities. Others took jobs where they could find them.
My friend Ginger from those days went to work at USC. I had a day off from Rich's and thought I would pay her a visit. As I was walking toward her work, I had a sharp pain in my right leg. It made it very difficult to walk. The pain was intense. I made it to her job and told her that I was in a lot of pain. She urged me to go to the doctor. I had noticed some pain while at Rich's, but had just ignored it. I have had lower back pain almost my entire life, so I just thought they were related. But, this seemed worse.
I went to see the doctor that day. They did some tests and suggested I get an ultrasound on my leg. They were worried that I had a clot in my leg that could move to my heart, lungs or brain. They made an appointment for me to go to an ultrasound lab near USC. When I got there, the nurse said that the jelly they were to put on my leg would feel funny. It started out cold and quickly turned hot. They ran the detector over my leg and found I didn't have a clot. That was the good news. The bad news was that I had Deep Vein Thrombosis which was causing the pain. The veins in my right leg were swollen. I was given a prescription for some support hose.
When I got to Hawthorne Pharmacy, I was fitted for the hose. I had worn tights before in plays, but this was way more substantial. The hose was designed to support my leg and allow the blood to flow smoothly through my veins. I could tell an immediate difference. No more pain. The hose went all the way up to my hip. The nurse said I could wear a garter belt to keep them up, or I could use a rubber band. I opted for the rubber band. I asked her how long I would need to wear them. She said for as long as I lived.
I put it on my right leg and went to work. The rubber band was tight, so I took it off and just held it up by tugging from my pants pocket. That seemed to work okay. I wore it pretty much every day at work for several years. Gradually, I started feeling I didn't need them every day, so I started wearing them when I felt the need. I started walking more and getting some exercise, which helped my leg. I now wear them when I know I am going to be standing up for a long period of time, or when I become inactive and need the support. A result of 30 years of retail.
Tuesday, April 23, 2019
Tuesday, April 16, 2019
Rock Hill
I was driving up to Charlotte on Sunday morning in the late 90's. I was planning to visit the used record stores. It was in the summer. My car had air conditioning, but I had to use it sparingly, because of the strain on the motor. I was reluctant to open the windows to get the hot air in my car, so I was driving some of the way with no air.
As I was going up I-77, I began to have chest pains. The pains got worse, and I was having a hard time breathing. I started to panic. I was close to Rock Hill, SC and saw a sign for a hospital. By now, it was around 12:30pm. I got off of the interstate and headed for the hospital. When I pulled into the parking lot, I stopped the car and opened my car door. I immediately threw up. I was sweaty. The chest pains had gotten worse, and I thought I was having a heart attack.
A security guard saw me in distress and called for help. They brought out a gurney, and rushed me into the ER. I looked around the waiting room and saw many people waiting for help. I was moved ahead of all of them. I felt sorry for them, but the nurses said that people with chest pains are a priority to be seen. That was good to know. They rushed me into an examining room and started taking vitals. I was in a lot of pain.
After triage, they started working on me more. The tests came back negative for a heart attack. They did more tests and had me drink something. Soon, the pain subsided. I was there three hours, when the other results came back. It turned out I had a bad attack of acid reflux. The doctor gave me a prescription and asked where I lived. I told him that I lived in Columbia. He told me I could drive back home, but I had to take it slow. I had been through a real ordeal. I drove back taking two-lane roads and driving 35mph. It took about three hours to get home.
The next day, I went to my doctor's office for a follow-up. Just to be on the safe side, my doctor said he was going to do another EKG. The nurse came in to put on the sensors. After a few minutes, they all came back to me in a panic. They told me that I had had a massive heart attack. I had no symptoms of one. I knew that from my father's heart condition and what happened to him when he had a heart attack. They called a cardiologist who was sent the strip. He told my doctor that a large portion of my heart was missing and that I needed to be rushed to the hospital. I felt fine. Just before the ambulance came, the cardiologist ordered another EKG. Another nurse came in and replaced the sensors. The results came back that my heart was fine. It turned out that the first nurse had put the sensors in the wrong place on my chest. The doctors called off my trip to the hospital. When I went back a week later for another follow-up, that errant nurse had been fired. They all apologized to me for upsetting me. You think?
As I was going up I-77, I began to have chest pains. The pains got worse, and I was having a hard time breathing. I started to panic. I was close to Rock Hill, SC and saw a sign for a hospital. By now, it was around 12:30pm. I got off of the interstate and headed for the hospital. When I pulled into the parking lot, I stopped the car and opened my car door. I immediately threw up. I was sweaty. The chest pains had gotten worse, and I thought I was having a heart attack.
A security guard saw me in distress and called for help. They brought out a gurney, and rushed me into the ER. I looked around the waiting room and saw many people waiting for help. I was moved ahead of all of them. I felt sorry for them, but the nurses said that people with chest pains are a priority to be seen. That was good to know. They rushed me into an examining room and started taking vitals. I was in a lot of pain.
After triage, they started working on me more. The tests came back negative for a heart attack. They did more tests and had me drink something. Soon, the pain subsided. I was there three hours, when the other results came back. It turned out I had a bad attack of acid reflux. The doctor gave me a prescription and asked where I lived. I told him that I lived in Columbia. He told me I could drive back home, but I had to take it slow. I had been through a real ordeal. I drove back taking two-lane roads and driving 35mph. It took about three hours to get home.
The next day, I went to my doctor's office for a follow-up. Just to be on the safe side, my doctor said he was going to do another EKG. The nurse came in to put on the sensors. After a few minutes, they all came back to me in a panic. They told me that I had had a massive heart attack. I had no symptoms of one. I knew that from my father's heart condition and what happened to him when he had a heart attack. They called a cardiologist who was sent the strip. He told my doctor that a large portion of my heart was missing and that I needed to be rushed to the hospital. I felt fine. Just before the ambulance came, the cardiologist ordered another EKG. Another nurse came in and replaced the sensors. The results came back that my heart was fine. It turned out that the first nurse had put the sensors in the wrong place on my chest. The doctors called off my trip to the hospital. When I went back a week later for another follow-up, that errant nurse had been fired. They all apologized to me for upsetting me. You think?
Thursday, April 4, 2019
TV's
I had worked in Luggage at Rich's for a couple of months when an opening came up in the TV Department. My supervisor put me there. I sold TV's and stereos primarily, and I loved it. I grew up with TV. From Howdy Doody to the present. My co-worker's name was Thom. He told me the first day that I wouldn't want to turn on the TV, when I got home. I thought he was crazy. He wasn't. When I got home from work, the last thing I wanted to do was watch TV. I had done it all day.
Due to my vast video library at home, I brought in some movies to watch during the day. I also made some movie and music clips to play to promote the TV's we sold. Yeah, that was the reason. The real reason was I couldn't stand to watch network TV during the day. Thom liked movies too, although he got in trouble for playing "Basic Instinct" in the department. He had gotten a promo copy and had never seen it before. We also played "Batman" that we had gotten from Blockbuster. Little did we know that someone had tacked on some of "Debbie Does Dallas" at the end of that tape. Our supervisor loved "Top Gun" and demanded we play that. We saw "Top Gun" probably 100 times. It was kind of cool to turn up the sound at the beginning to hear the jets taking off. That would rattle your fillings.
We had a part-timer join our department. He wanted to bring in some videos to play. I told him that there were a few rules. First, the video had to be in color to promote the TV's. I had wanted to bring in The Three Stooges and the Marx Brothers, but they were in black and white. The second rule was no excessive violence. The third rule was no profanity. I learned my lesson, when I brought in a Crosby, Stills & Nash documentary that I had not seen. At one point in the video, David Crosby called Stephen Stills a (paraphrasing) "Effen A-Hole". Just when that happened, a little boy and his mother were passing by the TV. The little boy shouted "Mama, he said the F word". He said that several times for the whole downstairs of the store to hear. I didn't bring that video anymore. And, the last rule was no nudity. So, it was on a Sunday afternoon. I was on one side of the department, writing up an order for a TV. The big-screen TV was on the other side. Suddenly, I heard a lot of laughter. I looked up to see a woman emerging from a bath completely nude. The film was "Death Becomes Her", which had been brought in by our part-timer. I ran to the TV but couldn't get there quick enough to turn it off. Needless to say, we banned him from bringing in any more movies.
Thom and I averaged selling around a million dollars of merchandise, but Rich's made a corporate decision to get out of selling TV's and stereos companywide. There just was no markup on the merchandise. So, we had to sell off the stuff. That was sad. After that was done, we were transferred to other departments. I went to Lamps, and he went to rugs. Our departments were next to one another. We played a lot of trivia games during the boredom. No more fun in TV's. I went back to watching TV, when I got home in the evenings.
Due to my vast video library at home, I brought in some movies to watch during the day. I also made some movie and music clips to play to promote the TV's we sold. Yeah, that was the reason. The real reason was I couldn't stand to watch network TV during the day. Thom liked movies too, although he got in trouble for playing "Basic Instinct" in the department. He had gotten a promo copy and had never seen it before. We also played "Batman" that we had gotten from Blockbuster. Little did we know that someone had tacked on some of "Debbie Does Dallas" at the end of that tape. Our supervisor loved "Top Gun" and demanded we play that. We saw "Top Gun" probably 100 times. It was kind of cool to turn up the sound at the beginning to hear the jets taking off. That would rattle your fillings.
We had a part-timer join our department. He wanted to bring in some videos to play. I told him that there were a few rules. First, the video had to be in color to promote the TV's. I had wanted to bring in The Three Stooges and the Marx Brothers, but they were in black and white. The second rule was no excessive violence. The third rule was no profanity. I learned my lesson, when I brought in a Crosby, Stills & Nash documentary that I had not seen. At one point in the video, David Crosby called Stephen Stills a (paraphrasing) "Effen A-Hole". Just when that happened, a little boy and his mother were passing by the TV. The little boy shouted "Mama, he said the F word". He said that several times for the whole downstairs of the store to hear. I didn't bring that video anymore. And, the last rule was no nudity. So, it was on a Sunday afternoon. I was on one side of the department, writing up an order for a TV. The big-screen TV was on the other side. Suddenly, I heard a lot of laughter. I looked up to see a woman emerging from a bath completely nude. The film was "Death Becomes Her", which had been brought in by our part-timer. I ran to the TV but couldn't get there quick enough to turn it off. Needless to say, we banned him from bringing in any more movies.
Thom and I averaged selling around a million dollars of merchandise, but Rich's made a corporate decision to get out of selling TV's and stereos companywide. There just was no markup on the merchandise. So, we had to sell off the stuff. That was sad. After that was done, we were transferred to other departments. I went to Lamps, and he went to rugs. Our departments were next to one another. We played a lot of trivia games during the boredom. No more fun in TV's. I went back to watching TV, when I got home in the evenings.
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